Council of Ministers convenes on dialogue with Baghdad

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (GOV.KRD) - Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Wednesday chaired a cabinet meeting to discuss dialogue on ongoing disputes with the federal government.

In the meeting attended by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, the Cabinet described Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi's recent visit to the Kurdistan Region as a positive gesture, and reiterated the government's commitment for a constitutional agreement that protects the interests of both parties.

The Prime Minister stressed that disputes with Baghdad cannot be reduced to oil and budgetary issues alone, but also the need to normalise conditions in disputed territories.

Prime Minister Barzani also noted that public services in the Kurdistan Region are better than other places in southern Iraq despite the economic crisis, adding the government is committed to improve peoples' living conditions.

Deputy Prime Minister Talabani then briefed the cabinet on recent talks with Baghdad to reach a lasting solution.

Minister of State for Relations between Erbil and Baghdad, Head of Diwan, and Secretary of the Council of Ministers then reported on specifics of Iraqi Budget Bill for 2021. The Cabinet tasked all ministers to cooperate with Ministries of Finance and Planning on federal budget planning for 2021-2023 to protect Kurdistan Region's financial entitlements.

During the meeting, the Cabinet also remembered the Baathist regime's massacre of Muslim and Christian populations in the village of Sorya near the town of Zakho on September 16, 1969, and paid tribute to the martyrs of this crime.